Craftster means a great deal to me. Mostly it means an opportunity to spread my wings and fly out of my comfort zone. I have learned many many new things from this wonderful group of people. And that's what Craftster is - THE PEOPLE.

To reuse this antique type set holder, I decided to do a crash course in Craftster. I did something from every section. Not an easy task in this amount of time, with jobs, gardening, volunteering, and a family reunion right in the middle of it all.This is the system when I got it ($10 at the thrift shop.)

And here it is filled up with goodies...

To start with, allow me to introduce ya'll to Acadian Driftwood, my wonderful daughter who got me started with Craftster...I will turn just about anything into a pair of earrings. There will be others to see in this post.Now, at the top of this conglomeration is a pair of hands, representing all of the good work my hands did to make this.My left thumb has not worked properly in years (even after 3 surgeries) and at times I could not craft at all. Now my right thumb is beginning to go! I decided to paint the thumbs turquoise ( my fave color) in an effort to tell them I still love them.Moving on to whatever shows up next - I will name the category for each piece.Top of the case is Brain Soap (bath and beauty) and is not just my first humorous soap, but my first soap at all.Also in this pic, an ATC of a photo I took of one of the kids I nanny for. He is 9. I decided he needed to learn how to run this machine. He loved it!! (Paper Crafts and Crafting for Good and not Evil.)Paperclip earrings (jewelry), a cherry tomato from my garden (grown from seed... it is my baybeee!) (Home sweet home) and the first of 9 placecard setting for tomorrow's family reunion (home sweet home.) The base is a river-washed brick from the mill that burned down here 100 years ago, the support ball is a Sycamore seed ball and the tag is Sycamore bark which is alllll over our back yard.A couple of inchies in there (papercrafts.) Also, a link to me singing (gulp) a song on youtube. Don McClean wrote the original, I changed the lyrics for my own life. I figured Craftster would be a great place to begin talking about writing and music as a craft.Um, let's see.... herb markers made from milk jugs, painted with nail polish.Sticks taken off to fit into case, but here is a pic of one in my basil as it should be. (home sweet home)

Youtube link - if it does not show up with my old camera, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC0Ik3k91j0&feature=youtu.bemore inchies, more earrings, altered car from my childhood, (recycle) and here it is in its original form.The dun-colored rolled up object with red bits is the following -(clothing category)cut off sleeves of silk t shirt, cut thumb hole, instead of seams, I did French knots all around.Below that, my first baby booties (knitting) and to the right in white, my first crochet (handle of a towel- the rest has gone awry.)Above the earrings featuring my daughter, a cat toy made from a lady's stocking. Stuffed with my own home-grown catnip. Embroidered eyes, will go straight to kitty's hands once this has been safely posted. (home sweet home.)To right of that, my own invention... old sewing patterns soaked in glue and pressed into a plastic easter egg to dry to an egg shape (recycle). then in the fibers category... a 'vase' made from my dog's hair. he has not been with us for 9 years, but he lives on in this creation. And it is for storing cat whiskers - can you see them? I now have 1000 due to the fact that I have been finding them on the floors during my cat rescue years.dog fur before..You will not be able to see the tiny mouse made from an apple seed...Snickers Ice Cream wrapper bracelet (jewelry)close uplower right, a quilted eyeglass rug for hubby. If he can just learn to put them there each time he gets up from the sofa, he will stop losing them.Closer pic...My fave creation of the whole thing is my stick puppets (toy category) made from a dead cicada and 2 shedded skins. I call them Cyril the Steampunk Cicada and his sidekicks Sister Skin and Skelly.Close upstop hat, cane made from a vine, home made wire glasses, scarf from old stocking, tiny screws to add steampunk feel.this gal has lace edges from an old doily and colored sewing hooks and wig hair.dude has a mustache from wig hair. hat is beret, made from stick-on shelf protector.Also here, turquoise burlap bookmark (home sweet home?)close up and aluminum ribbon embroidery (needlework) and two figures flanking a crafting for good and not evil project (figures self-explanatory). the rock is for my new 11-year-old friend whom I am officially mentoring.ATC of my latest kitty rescue, name of Gandolf (photography) and there are dozens of whiskers on the card.Fridge magnet of daisy I pressed last spring.close up of before and after(are ya still with me??)Craftster ATC with various letters including one burned with a woodburning tool and an S cut from a stamp in the shape of a dollar sign as a joke about how much money I have spent on postage for swaps.My first ever Gorilla tape purse (purses/wallets) with a bit of medical tape on it (white)Globe representing the world of Craftster all over the map. Put a birthday hat on it. A painted oak gall.put my tin of stickum there to show how all these goodies do not fall off the shelves!altered tin with sheet music on it,several more place markers for the reunion,a bud vase made from weird stuff... long container from an eyeglass repair kit, base is the sign from a medical alert bracelet,and there is the cork man! except I gave him paintbrush hair, a bark hat, and seed pod feet.to the right, my own Italian Deviled Egg recipe. no mayo, use marinara sauce instead, finely diced zucchini, fresh oregano, salt and pepper. (cooking)before pic...altered matchboxcloseup(clay/pottery section) I made a turtle out of a stone from the river. Sculpy.What does one do with 4 pretty matches? make a wee table with a bark top.Altered thimble... rock base, I use it to hold my needles, stuck into that fluffy hair ribbon from the 1960s. miscellaneous category.Think I have only the huge pic of the following...My first glass attempt. Got out hubby's blowtorch and went at it!more art, less craft, again painted on the ubiquitous sycamore barkLastly for the Holidays section, a covered acorn ornament.I have run out of camera battery so cannot do more detail of other inchies and such. Will have to show off more stuff at a later point in another thread.All in all, Craftster has been wonderful for me and I wish all the happiest of birthdays. May we go on forever.blu

I am in awe! I can't believe how much craftiness you crammed in there...each little thing had so much thought about what craftster has meant to you & the love put into it....it's just, wow! I hope folks really take the time to look & read & absorb everything that you did. I have to say the little steampunk cicada puppet characters are my favorite...they're just so awesome in many ways. Keep on mentoring your 11 year old friend. Crafting will be a lifelong joy & craftster will need future members.

I am in awe of your display as well! So many different skills and techniques...things that worked for you and things that didn't---it is a personal history of your crafting life!

I love all the wee things...the thimble, the bark table, the atc's, the crazy steampunk cicada...

blupaisan--just a fabulous tribute to Craftster and yourself! It is also wonderful that your daughter is a member and you are mentoring others as well...it has been a pleasure seeing your projects (especially your art, notecards, atc's)...and double the pleasure of getting to "know" you